Growth Conversion Framework

FRAMEWORK
Growth Conversion Framework

Over the past 10 years, I have had the privilege of helping hundreds of companies with their marketing strategies.

Then, one day, my friend asked, "Wilson, is there a one-size-fits-all strategy that works for businesses in any industry, regardless of their size?"

So, I started documenting every strategy I had implemented for my clients and compiled them into a simple seven-step framework (AAARRRA - Growth Conversion Framework).

Awareness

At this stage, we measure attention or ‘eyeball.’

Key metrics: Impressions, pageviews
Goal: Bring as many of your target audiences to your website, app, social, and landing page.

The keyword is ‘your target audience.’ It is better to have 10,000 prospects than 100,000 random strangers.

The awareness stage is also referred to as traffic.

There are 3 types of traffic: Paid, Owned and Earned, also known as POEM (paid, owned, earned media).

Due to the complexity of the traffic source, I highly recommend setting up Google Analytics or GA4 for your website/funnel/landing pages (from here on, I will be using the term funnel).

Also, you should tag every link you use for your CTA using UTM (further reading on UTM).

Here’s the UTM Generator that our agency uses.

Acquisition

At this stage, we measure cost per lead.

Key metrics: Cost per lead, no. of lead.
Goal: To convert visitors to lead.

In my definition, a lead is a potential buyer with whom we can continuously follow up without paying for ads. Ideally, it should be direct access through email, SMS, or direct message.

Activation

At this stage, we measure a new customer's cost per acquisition (CAC). The new customers refer to those who use your product or service for the first time, paid or free.

Key metrics: Cost per acquisition, duration from leads to first-timer.
Goal: To get our leads to experience your product or service as cheap and fast as possible for the first time.

Many people focus on getting the most profit at this stage.

But that’s a big mistake. Ideally, you want them to experience your product and service ASAP with the lowest possible CAC.

Revenue

At this stage, we measure gross profit.

Key metrics: Revenue, gross profit.
Goal: To have revenue equal to or less than CAC.

The moment we have a breakeven point (first revenue = CAC), we have a money-printing lead generation machine.

Retention

At this stage, we measure customer lifetime and when leads disengage.

Key metrics: The duration of buyer continuously paying.
Goal: To have 0% churn rate.

Retaining existing customers is easier than acquiring a new one, and it’s free.

Referral

At this stage, we measure the referral rate.

Key metrics: Referral rate.
Goal: To have at least 2 referrals per customer.

This is the turning point of most businesses.

When your customers refer new businesses, that proves you have provided them with great value. This will also significantly decrease your CAC and increase gross profit.

Accretion

At this stage, we measure lifetime value per customer (LTV).

Key metrics: LTV
Goal: To get people to buy more and more often.

This is when you cross-sell, upsell and offer an upgrade to annual payment.

Actionable: Create a document or a sheet and start tracking all the metrics at each stage.

I am thinking of creating a template for you. If you are interested, let me know.

TACTIC
3 ways to grow any business

After implementing the AAARRRA Growth Framework and tracking each stage’s metrics.

We have 3 options to grow any business:

Imagine this…

Awareness: 10,000 web visit
— 10% opt-in
Acquisition: 1,000 leads
— 10% sign-up
Activation: 100 free trials
— 10% upgrade
Revenue: $1,000 MRR
— 50% churn after 1st month
Retention: $78,000 ARR
— 0% referral
Referral: 0
Accretion: NA

Increase awareness

High effort; high price

Example: Double ads or media spending.

100% increase in web visits to 20,000. We will have $156,000 ARR.

Reduce churn

High effort; Low price

Example: Engage the customer or weekly office hours to answer questions.

30 decrease of churn to 20%. We will have $117,600 ARR.

Increase conversion rate

Low effort; Low price

Example: Increase opt-in rate, increase free trial → MRR.

10% increase of opt-in to 20%. We will have $156,000 ARR.

Actionable: Identify areas of improvement based on the tracked metrics. List all possible solutions and rank them based on effort, price and impact.

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. I can show you a real-life case study using your business.

CLICK WORTHY
ICYMI

• X’s seen a drop in daily users by 20% for the US and 30% for the UK.

• TikTok launched a new feature, expanded subscriptions for creators.

• Social shopping is on the rise - and it’s not just Gen Z.

• Reddit introduces AI and Automation to its ads manager.

• 51.6% of marketers use YouTube as a tool to drive brand awareness.